Final Activity

ACTIVITY ONEFor each of the following examples decide which amendment is involved, and which rights are being violated. What is the right thing to do according to The Bill of Rights?

Mrs. Jones hears a knock at the door. She opens the door and finds 3 police officers asking if they can come into her home to talk about neighborhood safety. She is very friendly and so she says yes. While sitting in the living room one of the officers sees a bomb under the sofa and gets up to get it. Mrs. Jones is immediately arrested.

Sam Davis is planning a public meeting in front of the town library to protest against a new city tax for playgrounds. He has filed all of his permits and the city has said that he can have his meeting. The night before the meeting, however, the mayor finds out that Sam was arrested 2 years ago in another town for starting a riot. On the day of the meeting, police show up to prevent the meeting and Sam is not allowed to hold his meeting.

Gina DeLong has lived in her home for 26 years. During that time the city has tripled in population, traffic is a mess, and there just are not enough roads. Tuesday morning the sheriff came to her house and told her that she had to move because a new road was going to be built right through her house. When she complains that she has lived there for so long and doesn't want to move, she is told, "Too bad, you have 30 days to get out."

Kennedy Elementary School is a normal school, so it surprised everyone when the principal, Mrs. Salinas, decided that all students could have extra holidays from school for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Most of the students were happy, but some parents were mad because they didn't have baby-sitters.

Hans Schlemming was new to this country. In Germany he was an auto mechanic. On Saturday night he was coming out of a store and the police arrested him for stealing. He said he didn't do anything, but the police were convinced that they had the right person. When he told them that he wanted a lawyer, one of the policemen said, "You don't need a lawyer, you guilty pig. You and your German friends killed my grandfather during the war. I know that you're guilty. We're locking you up and throwing away the key."

Stephanie Manus was arrested, tried, and convicted of kidnapping. There was no doubt that she was guilty. The judge said, "I can either send you to prison for 12 years or I can make you shave your head and make you stand on the freeway for 8 hours a day so that you will know what it is like to be scared." "Prison is too good for you," said the judge.

Mr. Wiegold had worked in the same place for 36 years and only had one raise. He felt like the boss owed him something, so one day he took a computer home and kept it. When the boss found out he had him arrested. Mr. Wiegold demanded a trial because he said he was innocent. But the boss and the police said he didn't get a trial because they already caught him with the stolen computer, he was guilty.

At a gun collecting show, George Samuels picked out 13 guns that he wanted to add to his expensive collection of guns from the 1800s. When he tried to pay for the 13 guns he was told by a security guard that he wasn't allowed to take so many guns. The security guard would only allow George to buy 5 guns because the Constitution allows citizens to have one gun per family member.

Trina Lening and her friends had recently robbed a liquor store. Trina's friend Lori did not help, she was sick at home. When the police picked up all of the girls the following Friday, they arrested the whole group including Lori. At the trial, Lori said that she was innocent and could prove it because she had witnesses. But her witnesses were her friends, and if they said she wasn't there, it would mean that they were at the liquor store.

The city of Manville was in crisis. For 3 days there had been riots and fires. The National Guard was called out to restore peace. When officers showed at Mrs. Mayberry's door demanding some food and a place to sleep she was so afraid of their guns that she let them in and gave them what they wanted.

ACTIVITY TWOWork by yourself and decide which amendment is the most important for citizens living in this country. If you could only have one amendment to protect you, which would it be? Then work in a small group of 3 or 4 and compare your answers. Try to decide by agreement which amendment is the most important to the group.